Hello! Laura here- we thought it would be appropriate for me to write this day’s events as this day was my Birthday!
We knew where the day was going to start! The famous Chena Hot Springs! I have heard the tale of this magical place since I had moved up here eighteen years ago, and I had always wanted to go- but it is really far from Homer! It is like a thirteen hour drive… ug. But in The Ohana, well, the drive becomes part of the adventure!
So, drinking our coffee and getting ready for the day, I took a few moments and just soaked in the beauty! I really like rivers, and enjoy the breeze they create, the sounds they make and the over all peacefulness that I tend to feel while standing near them.
As we were buttoning up The Ohana, we were greeted by this little guy, looking for a place to stash his snack….
Now you may not know this about Geoff, but he makes every animal that we see have a voice, and gives them a narrative...so it is suffice to say, that Geoff had me in stitches with this little fox! What a great way to start off my day- with laughter!
After the little guy decided we were not the place to hide his muskrat, we headed to the place where dreams are made- the Chena Hot Springs!
And don’t worry, we called ahead and they were open for limited business!
Ah, look an igloo- what everyone who isn’t from Alaska thinks that all Alaskan live in! But alas, this is not a real igloo- in fact, we don’t really know what is inside, as you have to pay extra to go in… :/
A quick side note, igloos are used as a temporary structure- like when people are hunting and such. And there are no such people as Eskimos either- that is a derogatory term- the Inuit live up north where they use igloos…can you tell that I am a teacher? 😉
Whoa! Another Airplane in the air….what is it with Fairbanks and their lofted airplanes?
There would be a lot to do up here if it wasn’t a global pandemic… four wheeler rides, horseback riding… a large restaurant where they use all the vegetables they grow in their greenhouses!
However, all of that was pretty closed down…so we gave ourselves a self guided tour!
I was super anxious to get into the hot springs- we were up so early that there was NO ONE in the pool!! But Geoff made sure we took our time and really enjoyed all the small neat items that Chena had provided for our enjoyment!
Can you see the steam coming off the stream?
It looks like they might have had a ‘steam’ parade in the past, here is Puff- I bet he looks super cool when he is breathing fire!
So far we hadn’t seen these mystical hot springs yet, but we could see the steam rising just beyond! So excited! Also, you can see one of the high tunnels that Chena grows their veggies in- we have heard the legend of these greens, but we will have to wait until another time to taste their sweet succulent juices! Today is all about the Hot Springs!
Wow! It looks a lot different than I thought it would… I can’t wait to dip in there!
The pool itself was contained with a large fountain of hot water streaming down, and a waterfall over to the end of the pool, but the hot springs themselves were all over the area…along with some friends looking for food!
Remember when I told you that Geoff makes up narratives for the animals around us, well this guy and I had quite a conversation about why we didn’t have any food on us, and that he should eat some of the thousand of bugs that were attracted to this area…In the end, the duck waddled away in his very own “don’t swim in this pond as it is for the ducks” pond very unhappy at the prospects of eating only bugs for breakfast…
And now it was time to see what a Hot Spring feels like!
Although it seems that we have been out and about quite a bit during our travels, we really stay mostly to ourselves…so after a bit of awkward conversation with the front counter girl, and forgetting how to use a coin operated locker, we finally made it out to the spring- and we had the whole place to ourselves!
Ahh, I bet you are looking forward to great pictures of the deliciously warm, well hot, water, the photos that catch our pure relaxation and feeling of sweet contentment! Yes those photos are spectacular- but we took those images in our hearts and left the cameras in the lockers!
This was a birthday memory for the books!
After a long dip in the Hot Springs followed by a few cooling pool moments and some more Hot Springs, we felt refreshed down to our souls and we were ready to find out what the rest of the day had in store for us!
Turns out that Chena is a little self sufficient place, with chickens, goats and a graveyard of trucks.
And beyond the King of the Goat pen, we found a ultra-modern Geo-thermal electric plant!!
Can you see it beyond the vehicles that came up, worked so hard and then died?
This is when I really wished that Chena was ‘open’ because I had so many questions on how this worked, why it wasn’t providing more power and what the future was for Geo-thermal power!
After goggling at all the machinery, we wondered back through time, and found another oddity out here…cubes of, well, everything…
Can you guess what they are all made of?
It really was rather artful! There was no plaque explaining the reason why these cubes were here, but we thought they were neat-o for just being around!
Well, we came, we soaked, and we saw- so it was time to head out and try to catch a glimpse of Denali herself!
But first we needed to deal with this….
When Geoff went into gear, he let it roll back, just a few inches and then as we pulled out, we felt a tug…I went back to check it out and encouraged Geoff to just punch it, and maybe we could pop off the guard rail…no such luck..the hitch was firmly hooked over the rail and no amount of pulling would dislodge this conundrum….we needed a lift.
There was a worker near by and we asked if he knew of any long bar that would help us out, and man did he come through! A super perfect bar was provided and after some prying and popping- The Ohana was free! But of course there was some minor damage that needed to be repaired…in the parking lot.
Have I told you that I am not a fan of fixing things in the parking lot of anywhere? Geoff says that I am going to have to get used to it when we live on the road…
And finally, we were headed out of the miraculous Chena Hot Springs! I think that I speak for both of us, but we would highly recommend this place to stop in if you are up this way! Ahhhhh…… 😊
Now, this is not the picture of the road out of Chena , turns out we didn’t think there was anything that remarkable to see. But this picture is from another stretch of road that has a similar frost heave pattern…and here is a small, impactful story that goes along with this type of road.
Geoff was being wary of frost heaves, as we just got the shocks replaced and well, we like to take care of our baby, so he was able to slow down to a crawl for most every heave we came across- and there were a lot!
There was a speed limit sign up ahead and it gave us the go ahead to drive at 55 mph! Sweet, let’s make some time!
Oh NO! Not just one, but two heaves going at 55! Here is the equation of this moment:
1 heave +1 heave + 55 mph = The Ohana Flying
I mean it, she caught air- all four tires left the ground, it was like Dukes of Hazard! But instead of us giving a rally shout of glee, we both said “Oh %$” and had a few hours of panic while we pulled over to check out the Ohana and make sure she was okay!
The question we have is- who thought it was a good idea to put a speed limit sign to actually go faster, right by two of the biggest frost heaves on the road…someone who is has an unusual sense of humor… 😠
Finally we were out of Fairbanks and headed toward more friendly roads! All in all Fairbanks is a win in our book!
The scenery leaving this area wasn’t as epic as the glacial views of the beginning of our journey, but still the wide open has its appeal.
We still had to watch the roads pretty good, there are still dangers to be wary of for the Ohana!
We were coming up on a bridge and some stormy weather….
Before the storm hit we took a little tour of the town of Nenana… and you could tell that the lack of tourists was really hitting the economy hard…
We got back on the road and decided to get gas, just in case, at the local station. We walked in to pay, as the pumps weren’t working for credit outside. And I asked the guy at the counter if he had the lights off for ambient light, he told us the electricity went out all around this area- which means the pumps weren’t working… Glad we didn’t really need gas, but sure felt bad for the people who did! 😟
As we left the gas station the rain started pouring down- glad we are sealed up in The Ohana and don’t have to worry about leaks!
Awhile later it really was time to get gas, and eat! Luckily we found a gas station (with electricity) and another little Toy-home for us to admire!
Turns out that the guys who were traveling around in this cutie had recently pulled it out of the back lot of someones, where it had been sitting forever and it started right up! Toyota for the win!
After we chatted, we pulled further into the lot, turned on the propane and cooked up some left over Chinese food! Yay birthday days!
And because we could, we took a nap. #birthdaynapsarethebest #rainydaynaps
After we felt refreshed it was time to hit the road- it didn’t look good for us to get a view of Denali, but we were headed along that road anyway- so I wasn’t giving up hope!
We drove by the tourist town on the turn out to Denail Park, and it was all but deserted. There were pull offs, camp grounds and stores that were empty! We felt bad for the small business owners, but we were really glad we had the road to ourselves, along with any pull out we decided to stop in.
The rain began to recede, and with that the vista once again gave way to bold mountain ranges on either side
But would we be able to see Denali for my birthday??
The roads got better, and the tunes were playing- what a great day for a drive.
You just have to wonder what people are thinking. I would love to talk with the person who built this house!
There were the deep canyons and the high bridges, the usual construction and the wildflowers too!
Gotcha! You saw the fireweed, but did you see those white low ‘clouds’ touching the mountain tops in the distance?
Those aren’t clouds- those are the peaks of Denali and her family! I got to see her on my birthday! Still gets me teary eyed!
Remember that nice guy we talked to in the parking lot of Value Village in Fairbanks- while we were fixing the muffler? Well, he told us to take the path less traveled from this view area. He told us it wouldn’t look like much of a trail but was well worth the climb. He was right!
I think that it was about at this time that we realized we might need to get a better camera- as these pictures really don’t do it justice at all!
Happy Birthday Selfie with my Love
After that emotional moment, it was time to get back on the road. It was almost 8:00 pm, so there was plenty of daylight left to get to our destination. That day we had touched base with Wendy Lou and made a plan to meet up with her and Serenity at the Montana Creek Campground, putting us close to the road to Talkeetna!
After some sunshine filled moments and pretty environments to gawk at, our day was winding down.
Pulling into the Montana Creek Campground gave us another 321 miles to our trip- so we are at a total of 1,366 miles around this state! Whew!
Anyone recognize those umbrellas? I had been saving them for a special occasion- and my birthday constituted as that!!
But the real special treat was the ice- you see we haven’t mastered how to keep ice cubes in our freezer yet. I do like my nite caps with ice…so today, at our last stop, we bought two large cups of ice! A treat to be sure!
And we found a moment to connect with another traveling soul too! A year for the locals to enjoy the local of where we live!
Laura Murphy 9/8/2020